The Term Sheet | Wattys 2016 Winner

Chapter 14

Andrew opened the door to David's apartment as if he lived there. David was alone at the dining table typing with one hand and eating a ham sandwich with the other. Though most people would get alarmed to have their front door opened out of the blue, David just kept typing. A gust of air blew in as Andrew closed the door.

"Dude, promise you won't hate me," Andrew said with glee. He walked over to the kitchen to help himself to a cup of coffee.

David interrupted: "Before you tell me about your latest nefarious plan, I need to apologize. You were right."

"Hold on." Andrew looked stunned. "What? Did you just say that out loud?"

Andrew reached into his pocket and grabbed his iPhone. "Wait a second, I need to record this. Say that again."

"You were right," said David. "What do I care about jellyfish? I think we should figure out if the encrypted email thing has legs."

"Well, I'm glad you say that because when you were throwing your hissy fit at Palio the other day, I borrowed your laptop. I published the landing page and put a link on Hacker News. Your idea must have hit a nerve. It's been on the homepage for the last twenty-four hours. As of this morning, you officially have 4,953 people signed up for Cryptobit."

David stopped typing and dropped his sandwich.

"You did what?"

"Oh shit, if you don't like that part, you are definitely not going to like this next part."

David stood up and walked over to Andrew.

"What did you do?"

"Well, last night I was watching TV when Pitch Deck came on."

"I don't have a TV. What's Pitch Deck?"

"Have you been living under a rock? You ever heard of Tom Lewis and Atlas Vanguard? They, and other multi-millionaires, have people pitch them business ideas and if they like the pitch, they fund the idea. Usually the people pitching are half-wits with no talent selling brownies or bacon beer. So I sent them an email that explained Cryptobit and the progress we've made with it so far."

"Andrew, I haven't written any code for it. It's just an idea."

"Details, David, details. Anyhow, I got a reply this morning. They want us to make a video explaining it. Tom Lewis does a ton of high-tech investments and loves the encryption startup space ever since the Edward Snowden revelations. Atlas Vanguard founded a high-tech background checks company. They've been looking for high-tech encryption businesses like ours. At least that's what the producer told me."

David's throat went dry.

"What do you mean, businesses like ours? This isn't a business..."

"It is now. And potentially a profitable one, if you can write the code, that is."

His palms were drenched in sweat. David had put so much work into his passive income idea for a year, constantly struggling to get attention. Now in just a day everything was happening so fast. David was confused and excited all at once. He didn't know whether to slap Andrew in the face or give him a hug.

"Oh, I can code the hell out of it. But what exactly do you mean by 'we'? And when did I ever agree to call this Cryptobit? That's gotta change."

"You're the brains, I am the brawn. You build it, I'll do all the rest. Fifty-fifty."

"David poured himself another cup of coffee and picked up the last bite of his sandwich. "Fine, but I'm CEO."

Andrew waved his finger in the air. "Oh no, buddy. Sorry. First come, first served. I'm CEO. You're CTO. I'm going to be setting up the bank accounts and dealing with accountants and lawyers and shit."